Wee Lass
by Baalsgirl
Summary: Carson is turned into a conspiring mother hen by a cute, little someone. Updated: The big goodbye.
1. Chapter 1

**Wee Lass **_by Baalsgirl_

Disclaimer: I neither own Stargate Atlantis, nor any of the original characters or settings used.

All I own is the story line and one non-original character.

Rating: PG / K

Season: 1 (I still wonder if 2'll be shown in spring...)

Spoilers: not really

Pairings: Rodney / Carson / John

Summary: A cute, little someone brought back from a mission causes our boys quite some trouble.

By chance, she even turns Carson into a conspiring, Gaelic mother hen.

Dedications: To all Carson, Ducky and kilt adorers in general; to Dr Dredd and Lou in particular: Gals, many thankies for the all great stories / merci beaucoup pour la attention :-).

AN: And again I've come up with some girl to tease the boys. Hopefully it'll be an enjoyable read for you this time ;-) .

xxxxx

Sergeant Bates happened to be in the gate room as Major Sheppard's team returned from their mission. A certain feeling in the Marine's stomach made him stay, to wait and see what dangerous thing they might bring back this time. As he had suspected something like that jumped into his face not two minutes later:

Major Sheppard was the first one to pass him, followed by Lieutenant Ford, Teyla, McKay and something small, with curly, blonde hair, looking up at him with big, purple-blue eyes.

"Major?", he turned to Sheppard.

"Bates?" the major looked at him coolly.

"Who is that?" he exquired sternly, pointing at the intruder.

Sheppard chuckled, "Ah, that. I'd say it's a little girl who followed us. I think she likes you."

"Sir...", Bates raised his voice to protest, but was stopped by the little girl bouncing into his arms and smooching him all over the face, talking some kind of gibberish of which he couldn't make head or tail.

Nervously the sergeant tried to fend her off, but she was clinging to his body far too tightly. One of his men present tried to help him but didn't have much success, either; out of further tricks he finally aimed the Wraith stunner he was carrying and before anyone the team could hold him off, he shot the little girl.

"Hey!" John yelled at the two Marines.

"What's going on with you guys, shooting a helpless little kid?" Rodney yapped in addition.

That moment Elizabeth Weir came running down the stairs from the control tower, "What's going on here?" she inquired, eyeing everyone with a highly displeased look on her face.

"Obviously someone needed a little bang-around with his stunner", John filled her in with a sharp glare into Bates's direction, "Somebody'd better give Beckett a call."

That same moment the door slid open and Carson Beckett entered the scene, "What happened?" he enquired as he saw the crouched, human heap lying on the ground.

"Our Marines, here", Rodney explained, furiously pointing into a certain direction, "don't like children at all."

For a moment the Scottish physician looked at Bates and his subordinate, then questioned icily, "You shot her with that Wraith stunner?"

"Y-yes, sir", the young Marine carrying the stunner replied dutifully.

On that Beckett let off an angry tirade on appropriate measures, "What the bloody hell were you thinking? Firing a stunner at a wee little bairn! Do you have the slightest idea what damage one shot might cause to such a tiny person?"

"But I had no other choice", the guard defended himself, "the kid was acting hostile."

Still fuming Carson picked up the little girl and trotted off to infirmary, muttering, "I'll show you something about acting hostile..."

As the Scotsman had left, Rodney glared at the security officers gloomily, "Pray he's no longer cross with you on your next visit to infirmary."

With his expression turning into a content sneer he then followed his fellow team members to the briefing room.

xxxxx

"Hello there", Carson smiled at his little patient as she opened her eyes again. He was about to ask her how she felt as she suddenly leapt to stand on the bed with a squeal and pressed a big, fat kiss onto his cheek.

"Och, aye, you're welcome", amused he set the not quite four feet tall power kid back down on the bed.

"I'm Carson by the way", he introduced himself with a sympathetic handshake, "and how about you, wee lass?"

"Wee lass, wee lass!" the girl cheered, jabbering on in some strange, incomprehensible language.

"Oh, well", the Scotsman sighed, "let's try something else", he crouched down in front of the child, pointing at himself slowly saying his name.

Indeed the little one seemed to comprehend what he wanted, "Carson, Carson!" she repeated happily before turning to point at herself squeaking, "Dana."

Content with the progress Carson grinned at her, "Hello, Dana-love, nice to meet you."

"Don't try teaching the poor girl your brogue."

With a slightly disgruntled face the Highlander turned around, "Major. How long have you been standing there?"

"Five minutes, maybe ten", Sheppard smirked innocently, "just wanted to see how our cute, little guest is faring."

"Quite well, I'd say", switching from an offended glare back to a normal look, Carson started giving the major some facts, "judging from the fact that the Stunner hit her right into the back, it's even a little miracle she's whirling around like this", pulling a really dark face, he added, "if I get my hands on that bloody irresponsible bugger of a Marine..."

John seemed to share his feeling, but said, "Calm down, Doc. Weir has already yelled him to about that size", he showed it between his thumb and index finger.

"He'd better not show up down here, though", Beckett grumbled.

That moment Dana called their attention with a cheerful titter.

"Oh, right", John remarked, "I haven't introduced myself, yet", smiling he approached her, "Dana, right? I'm John", he gestured at himself, "John."

"John!" with a merry hop, Dana pressed a smooch onto his nose.

That moment Rodney burst into the scene, "Seemingly you two've got a new fan club", he retorted, waving at Dana. "Hey, you, I'm Rod-ney", he told her with extreme slowness.

"Ron!" she stated, giving him a strong poke into the side, followed by a mischievous giggle.

"Ow!" Rodney hopped up and down with a melodramatic look on his face, "that little madcap...", he exclaimed to the chuckles of both John and Carson.

"And it's _RODNEY_ for you", he announced angrily into Dana's direction.

"_Ron_!"

McKay let out a pained groan.

"Perhaps it'd help if you stopped mumbling like that", Sheppard grinned at him stupidly.

"Maybe", rubbing his bruised side, Rodney trotted off again, leaving behind two still giggling colleagues and a little girl chattering to herself in a strange vernacular.

xxxxx

With a sigh Carson shut the lid of his laptop, rubbing his eyes. He had worked through the night once again and It was morning already. Now he pondered whether he'd pay the cafeteria a visit before he rolled in or not. As he was just about to leave, somebody tugged at his lab coat.

"Carson?" Dana stood right behind him, eyeing him closely with her big, blue eyes.

Carson knelt down in front of her, "What's the matter, love?"

She babbled something incomprehensible, obviously waiting for him to respond.

He sighed, "I wished I'd understand what you want to tell me."

Sensing that she had lost him on the way, Dana repeated the phrase once again.

This time something seemed to snap in Carson's mind, he frowned, struck by the familiarity of a word "Wait a second..."

He walked over to the bookstand, pulling out a certain book. Eagerly he flipped through the pages, trying to look it up and, indeed he found something:

"Looks like you're hungry", he murmured more to himself, merely getting a big-eyed look from the little girl.

He furrowed his brows, thinking of a way to tell her that he understood what she wanted. Finally he grabbed pen and paper and painted a sandwich, showing it to her.

Dana nodded wildly.

Stunned Carson realised his deafness. He could've understood Dana all the time, only by listening more closely. Sighing he took Dana by the hand and walked her to the cafeteria, tugging the Gaelic dictionary under his arm for further use.

xxxxx

As John entered the cafeteria he found Carson and Dana sitting next to each other at a table. She was blabbing about merrily while he fed her spoonfuls of vanilla pudding.

"Morning, you two", smiling he came to a stop beside them.

"Oh, good morning, Major. Would you like to join us?" Carson pointed at a chair on the other side of the table.

"Sure, thanks."

"John", as he had sat down, Dana offered him her spoon with a merry grin.

Sheppard gave a short laugh, tapping his mug with two fingers, "No, no, thanks, honey. I'll stick to my coffee."

With a little frown Dana turned to Carson, whispering something into his ear on what he slowly shook his head.

"Did you get what she said?" bewildered John furrowed his brows.

"She wanted to know if she was to put the pudding into your coffee", Carson gave in with a smirk, pushing the Gaelic dictionary across the table for him to see, "It's all in there."

Suddenly someone picked up the book from behind John, "_Scottish Gaelic Dictionary and Grammar._ Now, that's interesting..."

"McKay", John snatched the dictionary off him and shoved him to the side, "Stop lurking around back there."

"Sorry", pouting Rodney dropped into the chair next to him.

"Ron!" Dana welcomed him cheerfully.

He rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, uttering an unnerved groan, "Once again: It's _Rodney_, R-o-d-n-e-y, not _Ron_!"

"Ronny!"

Sheppard let out a cackle, "Slowly we're getting somewhere."

"Very funny, Major", Rodney pouted, "Err, Carson?"

Beckett put Dana's spoon back into the pudding, "Rodney?"

"Maybe now that you're speaking her double-Dutch as well, could you be so kind to tell little Dana, that I refuse to react on that stupid name?", McKay demanded.

Carson pulled a sulky face, "It's no bloody double-Dutch, it's still _Gaelic _for you."

"And why haven't you remarked that earlier?" Rodney teased.

"Because", the Scotsman paused to shoot him another offended glare, "I haven't heard much of it since I was wee."

Rodney couldn't help but bump his head against the table, having a fit laughing his head off, "You were _wee_!"

"What's so funny about that?", angrily Carson creased his brow. That moment Dana pulled at his sleeve, pointing towards the door, before she climbed into his lap, trembling with excitement.

"Wisha, lass", soothingly he caressed her hair, "it's okay."

John turned to see what was wrong: Sergeant Bates had just entered the room and was now nearing their table. From the corner of his eye the major saw Dana picking up her pudding bowl, obviously planning a little act of revenge on the security chief.

She raised the spoon, aimed and finally the slimy mass flew high into the air. Smiling John waited for the impact:

_Aaand ... Touchdown! _

The yellowish blotch had landed right between Bates's eyes. Fuming he grabbed the nearest napkin and wiped it off, not being braced for the next salvo of pudding torpedoes that hit him all over his shirt.

With a wrathful grumble his eyes scanned the immediate area for Dana, who had by then taken up a hiding behind Carson's back, with only one of her huge, violet eyes looking out on her enemy.

Angrily Bates came to a stop in front of the table, "That brat shouldn't be running around freely", he grumbled.

"Says who?" Carson retorted, putting a protective arm around the little one who was lurking from behind him, "You'd better excuse yourself for what happened or that little pudding shower will be the least of your problems."

"Are you threatening me?" the security chief snapped.

"Pretty much so", the Scotsman replied with determination.

Fuming Bates trudged off muttering, "There'll be repercussions."

"I just wonder for whom", Sheppard sneered, giving Carson a big thumbs-up.

_To be continued... _

xxxxx

AN: Do you have an idea how hard it is to find a working Gaelic online dictionary? Sigh, I wasn't really successful finding one, yet. Do you have any suggestions where to look for one?

There's a drawing of Dana on http/


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thank you all so much for r&r'ing.

I said I'd update 'soon', right? I'm so sorry, but first of all I was trashed with school work and then I was stuck in work experience for 35 hours + a week. :-(

But there's one thing I found out for myself: I'll never learn how to lenite properly. ;-)

xxxxx

After Dana had toyed around with the remnants in her pudding bowl for awhile, she put down the spoon, letting out a long yawn with her mouth open so wide that she could hardly cover it up with her tiny hands.

"Whoa, there's somebody being really tired", Sheppard stated with a smirk.

Sighing Carson checked his watch, "I'd say it's about bed-time for the two of us", he pushed back his chair and took Dana by the hand, "See you all later."

"Yeah, see you." John still grinned adding with a twinkle, "If you ever need a babysitter, you know where to find me."

"Thanks", the Scotsman picked up the dictionary, before he finally gave in to Dana tugging at his hand and left.

xxxxx

"So, lassie, you can roll in right there, if you like", after they had arrived at his quarters Carson sat Dana, who had insisted on not going back to infirmary, down on his bed, "I'll sleep on the floor."

As he began to set out his spare blanket and pillow on the ground beside the bed, the girl suddenly burst into tears. Worried he looked at her:

"What did I do?", he grimaced as the sobbing grew even louder, "No, no, don't cry..."

He sat down beside her, putting a consoling around her shoulders and immediately the crying ceased. Carson thought for a moment, "You want me to share the bed with you, is it that?"

As she nodded, Dana's face lightened up and she screeched happily.

"All right, all right", he put the second pillow back into bed, waiting for Dana to get comfortable, before he crawled under the blankets as well.

Only moments later the two of them were sound asleep, Dana using Carson's arm as a cuddly toy-substitute.

xxxxx

"You're a little madcap, hear that?" Rodney told Dana who looked up at him with her big, round, blue eyes.

"Mad-cap", she repeated slowly.

"Yeah, that's right", he smirked, content with himself. Then, suddenly he heard a sound from behind.

_Ehem. _

Rodney flinched and turned around slowly, to find Carson who had built up himself right there, arms folded in front of his chest, glaring at him with eyes half-closed.

"Err, Carson, back already?" Rodney stammered, his face slowly turning crimson.

The Scotsman uttered an unnerved groan, "I can't leave you alone with her for a minute and you already start teaching the poor lassie such bloody filthy words. Really, you ought to be ashamed of yourself, Rodney."

"Better be careful not to blacklist yourself on this one", that was Major Sheppard who had just entered the rec room, carrying a stack of picture-books and other toys, "Sorry for being that late. Looks like I've already missed the fun."

"It's alright, Major", Carson replied helping him to unload all the stuff he had with him, "we were just about to get started."

Rodney simply eyed the scene with a frown, "Where did you get all that stuff?" he exquired.

"Sources unknown to you", John retorted, handing Dana the most important thing he had brought, grinning broadly, "Look, this is a football."

"That's so typically you", Rodney groaned.

"She seems to like it, though", Carson remarked, pointing at Dana who was hugging the egg-shaped ball with her tiny arms, throwing it back to John as he held out his arms.

Rodney rolled his eyes, "It's pathetic..."

"What?" the major shot him an offended glare as he threw the ball back to Dana.

That moment Dr Weir entered the room, getting into Dana's focus of attention at once. The little girl dropped John's football and looked at her with big eyes, before running into Carson's direction with a squeak, whispering into his ear on what he smiled and nodded, "Tha i Elizabeth."

"Elizabeth", squealing happily Dana ran back toward the expedition leader, almost falling over her own feet.

"Oh, hi", Elizabeth smiled, lifting up the little girl, "you're really cute. I still can't believe how you could've annoyed Sergeant Bates."

"Did he tell tails?" John inquired, having expected nothing else.

Elizabeth sighed, "Actually, yes. He came to see me this morning, claiming that Carson had threatened him. Did you?"

"Well, aye", the physician gave in, "but what else should I have done? The bugger is scaring my little Dana."

"I wonder why she smooched him, then", Rodney said, "must've been bad judgement of character."

John groaned at the stupid remark, "Come on, McKay, what do you expect from a scared four-year-old?"

"She's not scared", McKay protested, "all _she_ is, is a whirling, little _madcap_."

"Madcap", Dana joined in with a merry chuckle.

Carson let out a heavy sigh, "Why in bloody hell, did you have to teach her this word? It's driving me mad."

Elizabeth tutted Rodney as well, "Carson is right, that's not very nice."

"Yeah, right, start conspiring against me", Rodney yapped wearily, getting up from where he was sitting. As he then marched for the door he tripped over the football, cursing as he landed on his stomach.

"Ronny", worried Dana leapt out of Elizabeth's arms. She ran over to him, covering him with kisses.

He pulled a displeased face, pushing her away, "Wah, thanks for the concern, but I'm fine."

Startled by the sudden rejection, Dana dropped to the floor beside him, breaking out into a heart-rending fit of crying.

"Oh, no", Elizabeth was the first to reach her, but her tries of consolation did not show the slightest effect. With a shake of her head she handed the little one to Carson who sat down on the sofa, taking Dana into his lap. He rocked her gently, letting her sob into his shirt.

"Look what you've done", John as he sat down beside them caressing Dana's hair, glared at the physicist in an accusing way and offering the football to her which she took, but didn't stop crying.

Slowly Rodney got up from the floor. He left the rec room quietly and obviously disgruntled, knowing that he had landed himself in the middle of Carson's and Dana's black list, not too far below Bates.

xxxxx

"Tha Ronny balach droch", Dana exclaimed pouting and folding her arms as Rodney entered infirmary later that day, actually playing with the thought of an apology.

"What did she say?" he asked Carson who was still sort of glowering at him.

"She said that you're a bad boy", the Scotsman replied plainly.

"Well, thank you", Rodney shot Dana an angry glare at which she stuck out her tongue, grimacing into his direction, "Actually I wanted to tell her I'm sorry, but not when she goes about me like that."

Carson let out an unnerved groan, "You're such a frigging softy, wailing about the truth after making my wee Dana unhappy", he paused and looked down at the little one who had just attached herself to his leg, "Poor bairn you are, aye?"

"Aye, aye", Dana consented, pulling another face at Rodney.

Rodney rolled his eyes skyward and mocked the Scotsman, "_My poor, wee Dana._ You sound like some wicked Highland mother sheep", with these words he stomped out of the infirmary again, "wait for the aftermath."

Raising both his eyebrows Carson and no longer hiding his grin lifted up Dana saying, "That's not our problem, or?"

"Chan eil", Dana agreed, cuddling up against his chest, sucking her thumb.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: So, finally little Dana is back, too. And still my Gaelic skills haven't improved ;-) . I hope you'll enjoy the little twist anyway..._

xxxxx

For the next few hours Rodney retreated to his lab, plotting revenge. It was right when he felt like getting somewhere at last as Dr Kavanaugh made his appearance forcing him to put off his plan.

"Oh, what is it?" Rodney snapped impatiently.

Kavanaugh with his arrogant ways took offence at once, "I don't know what I've to you done again. You'd really..."

"Yeah, yeah", the physicist rolled his eyes, "So, what do you want?"

"I've been looking for a file", Kavanaugh sneered deviously, "and I've got the feeling that it vanished right here in your lab."

Rodney scowled at him, "There's nothing _vanishing _here. But, well, look for yourself."

Annoyed her turned back to his plan of vengeance as suddenly something brushed his thigh. It was Dana.

"What the heck are _you_ doing here?"

Her _and _Kavanaugh was one nuisance too much for him right now. Unnerved he keyed his mike, "Carson, this is Rodney. Where the heck are you?"

No response. Apparently he had to go look for him to get rid of this little Gaelic troublemaker. Hastily he trusted her to Kavanaugh's care, though he was objecting fiercely.

Quickly Rodney slipped outside into the hallway and headed for the infirmary. But he didn't have to get far to hear glasses breaking from down the hall. It looked like Dana had found Kavanaugh's personal test tube collection. Perhaps this was enough of a vengeance for now...

xxxxx

Elizabeth was just relaxing over a hot cup of coffee as suddenly Dr Kavanaugh entered her office, dragging Dana after him. A moment later he was followed by a disturbed-looking Rodney. Something bad must've happened...

"This little brat has just _ruined _my lab", Kavanaugh, whose face had turned crimson, blurted out.

The expedition leader let out a sigh, "First of all you'll calm down, okay?" For a moment she let her eyes wander from Rodney who was seemingly pissed off, to Dana who looked as happy as always back to Kavanaugh who seemed to be gathering himself again, at least a little bit, "So, what happened?"

"She... she completely destroyed an elaborate series of tests, breaking all of the tubes. And now... " he sucked in a breath, "all that's left is a big, slimy black puddle on the floor."

Elizabeth watched how Rodney struggled to hide a titter behind his hand. She too had the feeling that Kavanaugh was exaggerating way over the top.

"I don't thing she did it intentionally", she winked and Dana, "she's just a cute little girl."

"Now, that's really helping", Kavanaugh yapped, "she should be beaten for it."

That moment Rodney spoke up, totally disgruntled, "Kavanaugh, your whining pisses me off. Why don't you just take a mop and sweep that oh so awful mess up? Before you make poor little kids pay for your inconsiderateness?"

That little speech was enough for Dana to run over to him and leap into his arms which had definitely not been the physicist's intention...

xxxxx

Once Carson woke up from his little nap he reached out for Dana, but she was no longer resting by his side. She must've slipped out of the room while he had still been asleep. He got up and left his quarters to find the little one, hoping that she had not wreaked any more havoc on her way through the city.

On his way he bumped into Radek Zelenka asking him whether he had seen Dana somewhere. The Czech told him that she might be in Dr Weir's office because he had seen her, Kavanaugh and Rodney headed into that direction.

Hastily Carson thanked him, quickening his pace with a very uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Hopefully she had not accidentally done something really bad...

As he reached the office door Kavanaugh trampled past him growling, "You better lock up that pesky kid somewhere safe..."

Stirred Carson tried to ignore him and entered the room to find Elizabeth, Rodney and Dana looking at him.

"Carson!" merrily Dana leapt out of Rodney's arms and jumped into his, giving him a kiss.

"Aye, lass, I'm here", he rocked her up and down a bit while turning his attention to Elizabeth, "What has she done this time?"

But she merely smiled at him, "I don't think she's done anything too bad. To me it looks like Kavanaugh just needed someone to vent his anger again. He's been making a fuss about some cracked test tubes, nothing big", she shrugged.

"Are you sure?" the physician inquired carefully as Dana whispered something into his ear, "You say Rodney saved you from the bad Dr Kavanaugh?"

"Ronny!" Dana agreed with a squeak.

Carson gave him a suspicious glance and then faced Elizabeth who gave him a confirming nod, "Well, maybe the two of you might become inseparable friends in the end. Aye, lassie?"

Smiling Dana nodded her head.

Rodney merely glared at the three of them and trudged out of the room without another word.

xxxxx

After another short chat with the expedition leader Carson was returning to infirmary with Dana still sitting in his arms. On their way they passed the gym. The doors where open a crack and a dribbling noise could be heard.

As Carson went past he could see Sergeant Bates inside throwing baskets. That moment Dana started stirring in his arms and in no time she had landed on the ground and slipped into the gym, fascinated by the big, bouncing basketball. At once she grabbed it from the security officer who didn't look happy about the interruption at all.

"Hey, give that back at once", he shouted at her as she began to run around him with the ball.

For the moment Carson stood by determined not to intervene, All he did was calling to Dana that the ball needed to be thrown into the net.

As Bates saw him standing there he scowled at the Scotsman. "You're finding that way funny, don't you?"

He made an attempt to snatch Dana along with the ball; but all he reached was that he found himself face-down on the floor. That made the girl a little sad and she knelt down, still clutching the ball against her belly, and kissed his nose. He pulled a face and jumped back to his feet. Meanwhile Dana threw the ball at the basket, but didn't reach the top and so it bumped into the wall and landed on the floor. Clever as she was she left it right where it was, waiting for Bates to pick it up. Quietly she watched him dribble and score before she ran for the ball again. Angered the sergeant followed her.

Carson cracked a smile calling, "I think she wants to play with you."

"Oh, really", Bates groaned. Judging from his sour look the two of them would never be friends...

That moment Dana's throw hit the basket making her cheer happily. As Bates saw this his attitude changed all of a sudden. He had realized that she was just an innocent little kid looking for challenges, just like his little brother back home. He took up the ball from the ground and told her, "Look", showing her that she had to dribble before aiming for the basket.

Hopping up and down Dana watched him, waiting for him to score another basket, cheering and clapping as he did.

Carson let out a relieved sigh. His wee lass was no longer afraid of the big, bad Bates.

"You think I could leave her with you for little a while?" he asked the security chief carefully.

"If you have to", Bates replied, trying hard to hide his own enjoyment.

"Well, all right", the Scot waved at Dana, "See you later, love." He hoped that what he was doing was right, praying that the little girl would behave herself properly while she was away from him.

If she didn't she might get _locked up_. But _together_ with Kavanaugh so that she was at least having someone to tease...


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: So, here comes the tag-teaming, as requested. ) It's a really nice idea, by the way.

xxxxx

Teyla had just picked up Major Sheppard at his quarters for another round of stick fight training. Now they both stood by the gym doors watching an absolutely funny scene:

Dana, Dr Beckett's little friend, was throwing baskets with Sergeant Bates. And that only a day after he had survived a pudding attack from the little one.

But now the two of them were there getting along very harmoniously as if nothing had happened.

Well, at least they did until Dana spotted Sheppard who was leaning against the wall. She came hopping over to him the ball clutched tightly against her chest, uttering a merry squeak.

"John!" she jumped up and down in front of him.

The major grinned at her, "Yeah, that's me. Maybe you'd like to give the ball back to Bates? I'd say he's a little on the dry without it."

But Dana kept on looking at him with her big, blue eyes. "Well, okay", John gave it another try, "what if Teyla and me would join your little game", he looked over to the security chief, "That okay with you, Sergeant?"

Bates smiled wryly, "Why not, sir? Unless Dana continues to hog the ball like this..."

Sheppard got to his knees to be eye to eye with the girl, "You've heard him, kiddo. So why don't you give me the ball, just for a second?" he reached out his hands for it.

"Aye, aye", Dana shook her blonde curls in a nod and let go of the big ball.

"Thanks", now the major winked at Teyla, "So, what about a nice round of girls versus boys street ball?"

She nodded, amused by his playful manner, "But only if we get the ball first."

"Okay, okay", John threw it over to her taking up position by the basket next to Sergeant Bates.

Smirking Teyla gave the ball to Dana with an encouraging tap on the shoulder. And from one moment to another the child was running for the basket at lightning speed past the two boys who only realized that she had gone past them once the ball had fallen through the net and hit the floor.

Her quick attack made John scowl at his teammate, "Have you been teaching her secret techniques?"

Bates, a bit bewildered himself, shook his head, "Err, no, sir."

Quickly Sheppard picked the ball from the floor and dribbled over to the makeshift line while Teyla and Dana took their first turn defending the basket.

"Okay, Bates, it's your turn", the major passed the ball to his teammate made a rush forward at once, passing the ball back at half distance, as Teyla got into his way. John tried his best to circle Dana smoothly. But the child used her strongest weapon on him... A second later Teyla had scored another two points for the girls' team.

"Major, what was that supposed to be?" Bates groaned at Sheppard who had dropped the ball just like that.

"Well, uh, little D here distracted me with her cute blue eyes and then I just..." he stammered.

The sergeant rolled his eyes, "Great, really great..."

"Hey, don't say you can do it any better..."

"Major, Sergeant", Teyla intervened into their bickering quickly, "Could we just continue our game or do you need a time-out?"

John blinked for a second then said, "Nah, we're good", he threw his other team member a quick glare before they took up defensive positions again.

"Fine", Teyla dribbled for the basket, simply squeezing through the two guys. But instead of throwing the ball right away she waited for Dana to come from the other side. As the kid had arrived she gave the ball to her, lifting her up so that she could dunk the ball. Once the ball was through the ring Dana gave her team mate a kiss on the cheek exclaiming, "Tha e éibhinn!"

Bates picked up the ball while Major Sheppard let out a snort, "Say what, a dunk..."

"Well, that's six-nil for us, gentlemen", Teyla grinned at both of them.

"Nothing we can't still turn around", the sergeant stated, starting another counter attack. Meanwhile Teyla set Dana back down on the floor, whispering, "Go, tackle him." The little one nodded and jumped into the middle of his path, trying to snatch the ball. One moment she hopped into the air, the next moment she was lying on the floor. Sniffling and with tears in her eyes she curled herself up, seemingly in pain. Quickly John and the two others gathered around her. "Oh, honey, what did ya do?" The major dropped down beside her and sat her up against his side, "Looks like you have a bloody knee", carefully he extended his finger for it, but Dana slapped it away, "Okay, then not. What do you guys say?" he turned to Teyla and Bates, "Looks like a case for Carson."

They nodded in agreement then John took the girl into his arms and the three of them started a little procession to the infirmary, hoping that the Scot wouldn't get too cross with them.

Sighing Carson looked at the still sniffling Dana sitting on the exam table in front of him, "How did that happen?" he questioned into the round of Sheppard, Teyla and Bates who were all giving him sheepish looks.

"Looks like we've all been a little wild there", John finally replied while the other two pulled sort of guilty faces. But honestly, Carson didn't blame any of them. He had actually waited for something like that to happen once he was absent, "So, let's have a look at that", gently he ran his gloved finger across the slightly bleeding wound, "nothing bad, really." He dabbed some iodine tincture on it. Though he was very careful with it, the bit was enough to make his little darling cry again.

"Och, lassie", he caressed Dana's curly hair while she closed her arms around his neck, weeping on his lab coat. Gingerly he wiped her knee dry with a piece of gauze, putting a plaster on it, "It's fine."

But somehow it wasn't fine for the little lass at all, she just continued sobbing without a break.

"Wait a second. I think I've got something for you." Quickly Carson removed his gloves and rushed into his office to fetch the top-secret tin of shortbread he had smuggled in all the way from Earth. Back outside he offered it to the little one who seemed to be absolutely taken with the gesture. Happily she grabbed two biscuits at once, munching away on the with great pleasure while her three playmates were left out in the cold.

Meanwhile Carson let the tin vanish into a new hiding place where it would be safe from greedy Rodneys and other potential threats. Returning to Dana and the three others he finally asked, "Now, who won that wee ball game of yours?"

"Teyla ‛s mi", his little lass stated joyfully.

"Oh, really?" Carson felt a slight surge of pride as she told him that. It grew even stronger as Teyla confirmed her report with a nod and Sergeant Bates growled something that sounded like _'Six-nil'_.

It looked pretty much as if Dana had the airs of a future basketball champion about herself. He grinned at the girl, "Good job, sweetie."

"Aye", she consented stifling a yawn. This was reason for Carson to check his watch, realizing that it was about bed time for wee girls.

"Looks like it's time for bed", he stated into the round, "Any volunteers for a good-night story?"

On hearing the word 'story' Sheppard pricked up his ears, "I'd like to, though I speak no Gaelic whatsoever."

Teyla and Bates exchanged a telling glance, but said nothing. Of course the major would volunteer when it came to story-telling. And they couldn't help but wonder whether he would pick one of the usual spine-tinglers he kept on telling to the Athosian kids.

Hoping for the best they bade Dana, Carson and the major goodnight while the latter was already getting comfortable beside the little one who was looking up at him with expectant, almost cup-sized blue eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Thank you for all those reviews. I'm so happy you like the Dana story this much. _

_Oh, and as for her parents ... I'm slowly coming to that now. But first of all here's John's storytelling: _

xxxxx

"But no horror stories, hear?" Sheppard smirked to himself as he saw the admonishing look on Carson's face. By now he already knew what story he wanted to tell her.

"No, no, doc, I'd never do that. No need to worry", he gave the physician his most innocent smile waiting till he had vanished into his office. "So, little one, how about a little story about Rodney?"

"Ronny?" Dana's big, blue eyes looked up at him expectantly and she snuggled herself up against his side.

John smirked, "Yeah, I think that's him, kiddo."

The little one smiled back at him, giving him an approving little nod. So John cleared his throat and began his tale: "You know, back in the early days he saved our collective asses with a big Hail Mary."

Dana frowned at him, "Muire?"

John sighed, making a mental note that he definitely needed to start promoting his favorite sport in the Pegasus galaxy pretty soon, "Ah, never mind. Anyway, you wanna know how it came to that?"

"Aye", the girl shook her golden curls.

"Ok, well. You know first of all Rodney got the Ancient gene from Carson's gene therapy. Then he decided to check out his new feature with a little device he had just found in one of the labs. It turned out to be a personal shield generator. You know what that means, honey?"

She simply shook her head.

"Well, it meant that he was invulnerable for the moment. So the two of us tried out some funny stuff with him. I threw him off a balcony and even shot him..."

A horrified gasp came from Dana and John grinned at her, "Don't worry it was into the leg and since he was being invulnerable... Anyway sadly Rodney couldn't take the thingy off again and so he thought he might have to starve to death. That's so typically him, I tell ya. Better we just overlook his whining and go on with the story."

He looked at the little one who had just cuddled herself up to him a bit closer. "Thing is that later that night long after I had told them their bedtime story two of the Athosian kids sneaked out into the halls to play _Major Sheppard vs. Wraith_", John noticed that on the mention of the Wraith Dana pulled a disturbed grimace so he went on rather quickly, "Then Jinto, one of them, got caught in a transporter that took him to an unexplored lab. Scared as he was he pushed some buttons and accidentally freed a subspace energy monster from its prison..."

Suddenly he noticed that there was a quiet snoring coming from Dana now. He looked at the girl to see that she had just fallen asleep beside him with her curly head resting against his side. Carefully he put a pillow under it before he slid off the bed. Quietly and a bit disappointed that she had interrupted him like that he went into Carson's office to tell him that he was about to go.

"So, doc, she's fast asleep. I'll leave now, if you don't mind."

"Thank you, Major. We'll see you tomorrow, then."

Sheppard found it hard to suppress a chuckle, "Well, Good night."

"Good night", Carson gave him a thankful smile.

As John had left the infirmary behind, the chuckle found it's way out at last. 'We'. That sounded pretty much like the things over-enthusiastic dads were saying all the time. Wee baby Dana and daddy Carson... He laughed out loud. That was the match of the year.

But all of a sudden another matter found its way into John's head making him thoughtful at once: What about Dana's real mommy and daddy? Were they still out there somewhere? If so, they were probably missing her little girl like mad with no idea where she had gone to. Sighing he made a mental note to discuss the affair with Elizabeth first thing the next morning.

xxxxx

After he had typed up the last report for today, Carson yawned and stretched himself. On tiptoe he left his office and went over to Dana who was fast asleep, sucking her thumb. Carefully he picked her up and carried her to his quarters where he placed her on his bed while he went to sleep on the floor right next to her. For a while he listened to her quiet, unintelligible babble until it lulled him to sleep and he finally dozed off.

But the peace and quiet didn't last for long: In the middle of the night Carson was woken by Dana's sobbing. Still a bit drowsy he jumped to his feet and sat down beside the little one, taking her into his arms, "What's the matter, lassie?"

At first Dana ignored him completely and kept on crying. He rocked her trying his best to make her stop, "Shsh, honey, it's all right..."

Still nothing happened; the blubbering was getting even worse. The girl held on tightly to Carson's shirt and all at once the word, "Ma-ma, Ma-ma", broke from her lips. Carson held her tightly and caressed her back. They sat like that for over half an hour before Dana had quieted down a little bit. Seemingly his nearness was the only thing that could calm her right now. Sighing he sat back against the wall and waited for his wee lassie to go back to sleep, but nothing happened. All she did was look up at him with her tear-dimmed blue eyes. If Carson wanted them both to get some much-needed rest, he had to substitute himself with something else for the moment. But what?

Suddenly his eyes fell on a half-opened drawer in his closet. Perhaps this would do for the moment. He went over and took out a pair of socks his mother had knitted for him. He crossed his fingers hoping that they would silence her for awhile...

Sergeant Bates was just eating his breakfast all by himself as suddenly somebody tugged him by the sleeve.

"What?" He looked up from his bowl a little annoyed about the sudden disturbance. Then he saw that it was Dana and he switched back to friendly mode. "Oh, good morning, kiddo. What's up?"

"Madainn mhath", she smiled back at him and handed him a piece of paper. He took it and looked at it with a frown since he could not quite see what the drawing on it meant. "Oh, have you painted that for me? It's pretty sweet."

Dana bounced up and down happily, "Tapadh leat." That moment Dr Beckett entered the scene. Somehow he wasn't looking that well, just as if he could use a good night's sleep.

"Good morning, doc", Bates greeted him, "That's really a nice drawing Dana made for me. But I just can't get what's on it..." , he added more quietly.

The Scotsman frowned at it, too. "That's, uh... ?" He bent down so that the little girl could whisper it into his ear, "She says it's a basketball."

"Nice", the sergeant stated. He had the feeling that the thing on the paper looked more like an oversized strawberry, but why spoil all the fun right now? He smiled a little at Dana and noticed that she was holding a thick, gray wool sock in her tiny hand. Surprised he looked at the physician, "Is that a ...?"

The Scot uttered an unnerved sigh, "Aye that's a sock, Sergeant. I didn't know what else to do. The wee lassie was feeling so lonely."

Bates snorted, "And then you give her a ... scratchy sock?!"

Carson was about to make a witty reply as Elizabeth passed them with a smile, "Good Morning."

The little lass turned her whole attention to the expedition leader immediately. She ran over to her and gave her a rather fierce hug with her short arms cheering, "Madainn mhath", once again.

"Ooh, hello Dana. I hope you've slept well", Elizabeth crouched down so that they were on the same level. That moment she remarked the sock in the girl's tiny hand, "But say is that...?"

"Aye, it's my sock", Carson replied suppressing a groan. He began to wonder if he should attach a post-it to it saying: _Hey, look everyone, it's Dr Beckett's favorite wool sock._

Luckily Weir picked up the notion and decided not to make further inquiries on the subject. All she finally said way, "Carson, I was wondering whether I could see you and Dana in my office after breakfast?"

The physician nodded, "Sure, love."

Not much later he sat at Elizabeth's desk with Dana playing and babbling about in his lap. The expedition leader watched her for a moment before she began to talk. "So, what's the matter with the little one?"

Carson sighed a little, "Well she woke up last night, crying and missing her mother. And after a while I gave her my sock because I had nothing else at hand."

"Ah, I see", she smiled sympathetically, "actually this is what I wanted to discuss with you. I'm sure it has occurred to you that she has to have parents somewhere."

"Aye", he nodded, "But I was dreading to ask her about them. There's no telling if she's traumatized in any way..."

Elizabeth consented, "I can understand your point, but perhaps we should try it", she left her seat and came around to the other side, smiling at the little girl, "Dana..." she looked up at her expectantly and so Weir went on, "We could use a little help from you, darling. We're looking for your mom and dad. Do you know where they could be?"

On hearing the words mom and dad Dana began crying almost immediately. She whispered, "Mama", and her lips began to quiver. Tears were running down her cheeks and she turned her curly head away, burying it in the folds of Carson's jacket.

"Oh no, I didn't want to make her cry", Elizabeth looked quite shocked for a moment, "I'm so sorry, Carson."

The Scotsman looked at her with understanding, "It's all right, it's not your fault", he got up and rocked the girl a bit, "Let's see if I can calm her again", caressing and soothing Dana he went out of the room, leaving a rather unhappy expedition leader behind.

Two hours later John and Rodney entered the rec room finding Carson slumped on the couch wearing a pained expression. Next to him sat Dana, quietly sucking her thumb and staring at the ceiling.

"Hello you two", John said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible, "Look what Elizabeth sends you." He took a small, brown terry rabbit from his pocket, "This is Mr. Carrot, her much-loved toy rabbit." He handed it to Dana who began to suck at his ear right away.

"Thank you, Major", Carson looked at him with glassy eyes.

Rodney squinted at the physician remarking, "Man, Carson, you look like you've been losing sleep."

"How very observant of you, Rodney", Sheppard gave him a meaningful nudge.

"By the way observant", the physicist snapped back, "What have you told Dana that she stares at me like that?"

John sneered, "She only admires you."

"Admires me", Rodney gave him a self-satisfied smile, "Now that's something, isn't it?"

"Nope", the major sat down next to Carson who regarded him with a very tired look, "You okay, doc?"

"Ach, not really. The wee one's sad, so I'm pretty down, too", the Scot replied with a rather thick brogue. John knew that this was not a good sign so he quickly snatched the big Gaelic dictionary from the table and stated, "I think McKay and I have found a good way to ask Dana about her parents..."

_to be continued_


	6. Chapter 6

Browsing through the fat Gaelic dictionary Sheppard kept an eye on Dana who was now sitting on the floor with Mr. Carrot clenched in her little hands rather tightly, looking up at Rodney who was staring back at her intently.

"Phew, now look at that... She's sucking that rabbit's ear", the physicist exclaimed just a moment later. John merely rolled his eyes and continued his word search while Carson uttered a disturbed groan, "Mind you, Rodney, she's just a wee bairn and she's aye stressed. Besides, who's the one of us sucking his thumb at night?"

John smiled to himself. _Congrats Rodney, you've finally pissed him off. Wonder how you're planning to get yourself out of that._

"Well, that's none of your business", McKay snapped back, "Anyway, it's way better than self-knitted sheep socks..."

That moment Sheppard closed the dictionary rather noisily to get everyone's attention. He smiled at Dana who was looking at him expectantly. Slowly he cleared his throat and mulled over what he wanted to say once again. Hoping that he had understood the grammar annotations right, he then began his sentence, "Dana-love, càite a bheil do thaigh?"

Both the little one and Beckett regarded him with a surprised stare that said _Since when are_ you _speaking Gaelic? _That look was followed by a thoughtful frown from Dana.

It took the girl quite some time to find an answer, but finally she stated, "An-seo", pointing to the ground with determination.

"She said it's here", Carson translated getting a sidelong glare from Rodney.

"_What _is here?" he exquired in an unnerved way.

"Her _home_, Rodney", the physician added with a long sigh that wasn't actually meant for the Canadian. He went on murmuring quietly to himself, "Ach ... càite a bheil do phàrantan, a chaileag bhig?"

Dana picked up what he was saying and threw herself into his lap, glancing at him with wet blue eyes. But this time she didn't start crying. She merely shrugged and shook her head quietly.

"So she doesn't know where her folks are", Sheppard, who had just looked up the unknown words in the dictionary, pulled a disappointed face, "But perhaps somebody will call around and pick her up. I'm gonna go ask Elizabeth if we can go back to the planet where we found her. Could be we find something..."

"Do that, major", Carson replied while he was caressing Dana's curly hair. John nodded and left the room. As he was gone Dana hopped off Carson's lap and offered Mr. Carrot to Rodney.

"What does she want now?" the physicist huffed.

With a slight grin the Scotsman translated what she had just whispered into his ear, "She asks whether you'd like to snuggle the rabbit for a moment."

"Ha-ha. Very funny", McKay scowled at her. He got up and walked away quickly, muttering, "I need to get out of here..."

xxxxx

Dr Zelenka was very relieved that McKay had finally gone on that mission with the team. For more than two hours his colleague had bothered him with his lengthy and annoying tirades on little, squeaking, whining, drooling Gaelic brats. Not that some of these qualities could also be applied to Rodney himself...

Now the Czech engineer was having a horrible headache, shuffling his way to the infirmary to get himself some painkillers. As he was about to enter, the little girl ,Rodney's whole lamenting had been about, bumped right into him. Sighing Radek waited for her to pass by.

As she was finally gone, he noticed that the little on had dropped her toy bunny. Quickly he picked it up, fearing that somebody could fall over it. An instant later he already regretted his decision: The spongy little thing had recently been snuggled and now his hand was covered in child spittle. Muttering angrily he wiped it dry on his trousers, putting the toy into a pocket.

The moment he had reached Dr Beckett's office and was about to ask him for some aspirins, Radek felt a tug on his sleeve. Slightly annoyed he turned around and found little Dana standing behind him, exclaiming, "Misser Kerrit!"

"Pardon, what?" the Czech crouched down to get on eye-level with the kid.

"Mis-ser Ker-rit!" she repeated apparently losing her patience.

Now Zelenka remembered that he was still holding hostage her rabbit. With two fingers he pinched the semi-wet thing by the ear and held it up, "You want your bunny back, right?"

"Aye", his assumption was confirmed with a fierce nod and he let the toy glide down into her little hands. Once Dana had snatched it, she wagged it around in front of him and stated, "Sin Misser Kerrit."

"I see", rolling his eyes Radek stood up and turned back to Carson, asking, "So I guess that is how it's called?"

The Scotsman nodded briefly, "Actually the rabbit's name is Mr. Carrot, but you can't expect such a wee lassie to pronounce properly."

"Ah", this information didn't make Radek's headache any better, "Could you prescribe me something for my aching head?"

"Aye, if you tell me why it aches, son."

Zelenka sighed, "It aches because Rodney couldn't stop raving about your cute little girlie."

"Oh, couldn't he?" the physician seemed to make a mental note to take vengeance for that later, "What exactly did he say?"

"You don't _want_ to know. But I think he'll be very happy when they find something back on planet where they met her..."

xxxxx

Major Sheppard's team had just arrived in the gate room as Carson entered. Dana was clutching his hand, hopping up and down merrily.

"Have you found something?" the Scot asked in a rather excited way.

"Yeah", Sheppard took a slip of paper from his breast pocket and handed it to him, "there was this letter..."

"Major Show-off here was unable to translate", threw in Rodney, receiving a pissed scowl and a slap on the head for it.

That moment Teyla placed herself between her two arguing teammates and put a bundle of clothes and other things into Carson's arms, "And we've also found these."

"Thank you, love", he took the things with a thankful smile. And while Dana decided to grab some of the stuff and scatter it all across the room the physician unfolded the letter and made an attempt to read it.

_to be continued..._

_A/N: "Ach ... càite a bheil do phàrantan, a chaileag bhig?" But ... where are your parents, little girl?_


	7. Chapter 7

After an hour Carson had finished translating the letter that was actually written in tiny, hardly legible runes. He had just copied the translation on a sheet of paper as Elizabeth stuck her head around the corner. Dana was with the expedition leader, holding on to her hand.

"Any progress?"

"I'm done I was just about to call you, love." He handed her the copy and she sat down to read it:

_Dear Finder,_

_Along with this letter you must've found our wee lass Dana. If so we ask you to take good care of her, for she is our greatest love and pride.  
To protect her from a Wraith culling impending on our planet we sent her to this deserted settlement in the hope that she would be safe here. Unluckily there wasn't enough time to evacuate any more children along with her and none of the grown-ups had the possibility to keep her company. Our planet's population is very small, so all of us had to stay behind, trying to save as much of our culture from the Wraith as possible._

_Please look out for news from us. We hope that we will be able to return and take our little one back home once everything is over.  
Thank you very much for your care and attention._

_Yours truly, Dana's worried parents, Dylan and Siobhan _

Sighing Elizabeth put the letter away, "They seem to be a very optimistic bunch of people."

"Aye", Carson creased his brows, sighing as well, "What if someone else had found the poor lassie?" He reached for Dana who was standing beside him, quietly gawking up at him with her cup-sized blue eyes. She smiled at him broadly as he then sat her down on his knee.

"I mean, what if they don't come back?" Weir pondered quietly.

"Don't even think about it", Carson's eyes clouded a bit, "Not yet." Almost absent-mindedly he caressed the little girl's curly hair.

The expedition leader nodded gravely, "Right, let's think positive for the moment. I'll ask Major Sheppard to deploy some guards by the planet's gate. Perhaps someone comes through after all."

That moment Dana jumped off the physician's lap, just as though she couldn't take the sad atmosphere anymore. A moment later she returned, nibbling a shortbread finger from Carson's secret stash while trailing her favorite snuggly blanket, the team had found on the planet, across the floor.

"Awww, that's so sweet", Elizabeth clapped her hands and cracked a little smile.

Carson pattered the little one's head, "That's my little lassie. She really knows how to cheer us up."

Dana used their reaction to get her personal needs into discussion: "An cluich sinn a-nis?" She inquired looking up at both of them expectantly.

"What is it?", the expedition Weir asked.

"She wants to play", the Scot explained.

The expedition leader's smile broadened, "Looks like she doesn't want us to discuss the grave things right now", she got up and went over to the little girl, "What do you want to play, honey?"

xxxxx

As John entered Elizabeth's office he found her and Dana hanging about on the floor, doodling away on a big sheet of paper. For a moment John hovered by the door, quietly watching the scene. At last the mission commander spotted him. Quickly she got up, smoothing her shirt. "Oh, hello, Major. We were just..."

He grinned, "No, no, it's okay. I only wanted to tell you that I've dispatched someone on the planet. They'll radio in once something happens", he paused to take in the picture she and the little one were working on, "You're having fun, I take it?"

"Yeah, we do, don't we?", Weir twinkled at the little one.

"Aye", Dana tittered waving John towards her. Happily he followed her invitation. Once he'd knelt down beside her, she used her crayon to draw a bright, red heart on his cheek, sealing it with a smooch.

"Now, that's sweet", giggling the major snatched a green crayon from the box, painting a big dot onto the girl's nose. "Mind if I join you?"

Elizabeth smirked, "Not at all. We could use some grass down there."

"Okay", swinging his crayon he began to sketch some blades.

xxxxx

"Elizabeth, I...", as Carson entered the office about half an hour later he was greeted by a whole of five people looking up at him. Aside from Dana and her, Sheppard was there, along with Teyla and Peter Grodin who were all eagerly working on a big painting. His wee lassie was in their middle, laughing away merrily. As she saw him she put her little hand on the spot beside her, showing him to come over and sit down. He frowned, "Love, do you think that's such a good idea? I can't draw at all."

"Come on, Carson, don't be a spoilsport", Sheppard chimed in, "I could use a little help sketching sheep here."

"Right", pushing up his sleeves he grabbed a black crayon and walked over. After a moment he finished his first animal to which Grodin quickly added a pink ribbon. Dana smiled at it with delight, "Tha i brèagha."

"Thank you, lassie", Carson stroked her curls and she painted a flower onto his chin.

"And what do I get?" Peter inquired playfully.

The little one thought for an instant, then took the crayon from Carson to draw her version of a sheep on his forehead. "Thank you", he gave her a hug.

That moment Dana realized that she hadn't adorned Teyla and Elizabeth with paintings, yet. Quickly she set to work, beginning with a multicolored butterfly on Teyla's collar.

After awhile Rodney entered the room. As he saw all the colorful works of body art he uttered a loud shriek, cringing as Dana came hopping toward him with her arms outstretched for an embrace. "Ronny..."

"No, don't you dare painting me. It's childish and aside from that I'm allergic against those color pigments", he jabbered, obviously scared.

Elizabeth got up and walked over to him, "What is it, Rodney?" she asked.

"There's just been a transmission through the gate Grodin here completely failed to notice because he's been totally taken up with kiddy smearings."

Peter jumped up, glowering a bit. "There's no need to be insulting."

John joined him, "He's right, Rodney. What's wrong with our wonderful picture?"

"Well", McKay pouted, "It's the sheep that look like furry meatballs."

"Careful, lad", annoyed Carson got to his feet as well, "don't insult my pretty sheep."

Now Rodney realized that he was up against a posse of insulted people, all with their crayons still in hand, ready to decorate him from top to bottom. "All right", in a soothing way he tried to get out of this awkward situation, "why don't we go check on that message? It might be important."

"Fine", Peter made a step forward and a moment later the six others followed him to the control tower. Perhaps Rodney's assumption was right...

_tbc. Thanks for reading. Baalsgirl _


	8. Chapter 8

The control room was an excited bustle of voices with everyone standing around the communications console, expectantly waiting for him to push the button. Dana was bumping up and down nervously until John lifted her up into his arms so that she could see more. "Am pàrantan bruidhinn rium?" she asked a insecurely. The major tried to look cheerful, "We'll know in a minute, honey."

Rodney took the opportunity to make another taunting remark, "We'll know _what_?" "If her parents are on the other end of the line", John rolled his eyes. The physicist groaned throwing Carson a glance, "Looks like somebody's sucking up to our master sheep painter here." "Aw, fan sámhach, Rodney", the Scotsman grumbled. On hearing it, Dana cheered and clapped her hands in approval. Then came the moment of truth. Everyone looked at Peter full of excitement as he finally played back the transmission: _Atlantis, this is Dr Lindsay. We could use a backup team to salvage all these artifacts we've found here... _ The rest of the message was drowned out by a collective groan that sounded pretty much like it came from a horde of disappointed football fans. "And what do we do now?" Teyla asked into the round. The others shrugged and Peter suggested, "Why don't we finish our painting?" "Right, that's a good idea", Carson agreed. A moment later they had all filed out of the control room, leaving behind a lonesome and disgruntled Rodney.   
Instead of grabbing a crayon right away, Dana withdrew into a quiet corner. She sat there on her snuggle blanket, sucking Mr. Carrot's ear almost violently. Carson threw his wee one a worried glance and finally he sat down beside her. For a moment they were sitting side by side quietly until the physician realized that there were tiny little tear trickling down her rosy cheeks. He wrapped an arm around her whispering, "A Dhana, chan eil thu brònach." The girl shook her head, sniffling away the tears as good as she could, trying her best to convince him that she wasn't sad at all. Sighing she dug her little head into his side. He cuddled the girl a bit more, reassuring her that they would find her parents soon. As John saw what was going on he went over to them, trying to get Dana's attention. Once he had it he pointed at the big picture that was almost finished by now. "Look, seo thusa." Curiously the little one crawled over to the drawing, gawking at the stick man the major had just shown her. Forgetting her sadness for the moment she pointed at the figure next to it. "Cò sin?" she questioned. Proudly Sheppard pointed at himself, "That's me." On the other side of the sheet Elizabeth started snorting quietly. Then she came walking over and added another figure to the group. The moment she was done, John scrutinized it with his eyes pinched half-closed, "Is that you? I didn't know you had long, brown ears." The expedition leader gave him a strange look, "Ha-ha, very funny. That's not me it's..." "Misser Kerrit!" Dana cheered, completing the sentence for her. Happily the girl bent down and kissed the painted bunny onto its cute, waxy snout. The action left a long, brownish streak on her upper lip which she smeared even further across her face with the real toy bunny's ear, chuckling away merrily. "Look, Dana has got a beard", Peter exclaimed, pointing and smiling. Blushing the little lass covered her mouth with her hands and went on laughing. The game went on until Carson reached for a Kleenex, deciding to wipe the color away. Shrieking Dana jumped up and hid herself behind Teyla's back, peaking at the Scotsman suspiciously with round, watchful eyes. Sighing he threw the tissue away again, "Okay, then not, love." Relieved the kid leapt out of her hiding-place again, almost bumping into Dr Biro who just came walking through the door.   
"Can I help you?" Carson got up offering his subordinate a hand with the obviously heavy plate she was carrying. "No, no, sir, it's all right", she beamed broadly at her boss, "I just came by to bring you a little something I've made in case anyone's hungry", proudly she lifted the cloth that covered the plate, revealing a big heap of brownies. On seeing the sweet surprise Dana nearly freaked out. Bumping up and down the little one called out, "Cèic, cèic !!!" With a friendly smile Dr Biro handed her a piece of it, "There you go, sweetie." John watched the scene thoughtfully, "I wonder where the chocolate comes from, doc."

"Well", Biro smirked mischievously, "actually I've _found _it in one of the storage room though I think it _might_ belong to Dr McKay. Do you think he'll miss it?" "No, not at all", was the answer that, to everyone's surprise, came from Weir, "I think he can share on Dana's behalf..." "Right", the others clapped approvingly and then helped themselves to a juicy piece of cake. John was just paying his compliments on Dr Biro's delicious baking as the door opened once again letting in a flushed McKay who stomped into the room, coming to a stop right in front of the brownie plate. "So this is where my chocolate went", snappishly he glared into the round, "This isn't very nice, you know. Stealing other people chocolate and ... and..." he paused because Dana was tugging at his sleeve. With a placating smile she offered the rest of her cake to him. That was way too much for Rodney to take: "Sorry, I don't take salivated brownie remnants from greedy little kids who steel my chocolate", he exclaimed a tad too loudly, making the little girl cringe and run away, right out of the office. "Great Rodney, really great", Carson scolded the physicist angrily, "She was having a tough time already and then you burst in and spoil it all for a bloody bit of chocolate." His lecture was accompanied by cross stares from everyone else in the room. "We'd better go find her", Sheppard shoved himself past Rodney and followed Dana outside.   
For almost half an hour John wandered through the corridors, looking for any hints that could lead him to their little girl. She had definitely been damn quick running away and now she was just as clever hiding away from them. And all because of Rodney. The Canadian should definitely be the one looking out for her now but of course he wasn't. Instead he had gone back to his lab where he was now sulking, as usual. Suddenly the major heard a grinding sound beneath his feet. He had stepped on something. Quickly he bent down to find that he was standing on a track of brown chocolate crumbles. He followed the trail for a moment until he reached the door of Sergeant Bates's quarters, in front of which the line ended. Without hesitating he used his command code to open the door. Once Sheppard was inside he received a message from Grodin over his headset: _"Major we've just received a transmission from the planet. Sergeant Bates reports that two people have come through the gate. They seem to be looking for their little girl."_ "All right, thank you, Peter. I'll head back to the gate room once I've found Dana", he replied, about to continue his search. But he didn't need to. The wee one was sitting on the bed right in front of him. With a satisfied expression on her little face she was still nibbling on her brownie while snuggling Bates's basketball with her free arm. As she noticed John her curly head turned toward him, watching him with questioning eyes. The major made a big step toward her saying, "Your parents, little one, they've come back." "Pa-rents?" Dana repeated slowly, frowning a little. "Do phàrantan..." he added after a moment of thought. On hearing this the child jumped up at once, running into his arms with a happy squeak. Smiling John lifted her up, carrying her back to the gate room. 


	9. Chapter 9

As John carried Dana into the gate room, the wormhole had already activated and the others had already assembled by the steps.

"There we go, little one", the major smiled, pecking her cheek.

"Aye", Dana nudged his nose with a still chocolaty finger in return.

A moment later two figures stepped through the Stargate, followed by Sergeant Bates and his team.

One of the visitors was a rather tall, blonde man in a kilt. He was holding a young woman's hand. She was wearing an equally checkered tartan sash, had curly, red hair and big, disk-shaped blue eyes that bore an almost uncanny resemblance to Dana's own ones.

"Any relatives of yours?" Rodney who stood next to Carson snickered quietly. He got

slapped on the head for it almost instantaneously. "Very funny, Rodney", the Scotsman hissed in a somewhat pissed tone of voice.

That moment Dana uttered a merry squeak. Pressing Mr. Carrot along with some crumbly brownie remnants into Sheppard's hand she leapt out of his arms and ran over to the couple. They were just as happy to see her. The woman took the girl into her arms and kissed her all over while her spouse caressed the little one's hair.

Carson sniffled away a relieved tear while Elisabeth was already urging him over to their guests to greet them in their mother tongue. But Dana was a little quicker than the expedition leader. She snatched Carson's sleeve and pulled him closer, proudly pointing at her new best friend and father stand-in.

"Ma, Pa, sin Carson, mo caraid as fhèarr. Carson, sin Màiri, mo màthair is Dylan, mo athair."

The physician blushed a bit and shook hands with Dana's parents. Then he took his turn and introduced Elizabeth to them. They talked for a while and agreed that they would stay around until their little one had packed and said goodbye to all of her friends. With a warm smile the expedition leader guided the couple to the conference room. Meanwhile Dana and the physician walked away to get her things.

xxxxx

As Sergeant Bates went into his quarters he noticed at once that somebody had been in here: There were brown, chocolaty crumbs all over the floor and on the freshly changed sheets lay his basketball all caked in crumbles as well. Sighing he picked it up. This had to be Dana's work. For a moment he sat down, turning the ball in his hands. Finally he decided to give it to her as a farewell present. He himself had gotten it from his little bro. But his youngest sibling would surely understand it when he gave the ball away to the sweetest little girl he'd ever met. Carefully the sergeant cleaned it and put it aside.

xxxxx

"She _finally_ leaving ??" down in the engineering lab Dr Kavanaugh rejoiced on hearing the news from Radek.

"Finally?" the Czech repeated, "She's the nicest little girl I've ever met. I'll really miss her."

"Well I won't", his colleague sneered, "This little brat has totally ruined my lab."

"No, she hasn't", Zelenka groaned, "And now out of _my _lab with you."

"Fine. But maybe you'd better go look what McKay is doing over there", Kavanaugh sneered and was gone.

Radek turned around, "Rodney?"

"Yes, what?" the Canadian's head emerged from behind a wall panel.

"What are you doing there?"

The physicist uttered a slightly girlish giggle. "I was just thinking that maybe the Highlander's little madcap would like to have those for a farewell gift." Beaming he held up two Kit Kat bars, "They're my last."

The engineer looked at him with disbelief, "This is so totally unlike you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. See you later, Radek", smirking he marched away without another word to say.

xxxxx

Then the big moment had finally come. Everyone was already waiting in the gate room for Dana's and Carson's arrival. Major Sheppard stood next to Rodney whispering,

"Hey, I'm still taking bets whether he's having his kilt on or not. Care to join?"

"No, thank you. I mean this is not the Highland Fling, or is it?" McKay retorted with a slight shudder.

At last the door opened and the two of them entered holding each other's hand. Dana was wearing her own tiny tartan dress, while Carson had indeed donned his blue and green kilt in all its prettiness. They were followed by Teyla who carried the bundle of Dana's things. The girl's father was there to take it from her at once, expressing his thanks by means of a deep bow.

Now Dana made her round and said goodbye to everybody. First of all she went over to Radek who patted her curly head and then even gave her a shy kiss on the cheek. Sniffling a little she went on to John who lifted her up and down several times and was snuggled vigorously in return. "Slàn leat, little one", he said at last looking a bit sad.

McKay was the next one in the line. He hugged the child and gave her the chocolate bars.

"Seòclaid", she exclaimed merrily giving him an extra hug. And then the big surprise came out: In remarkably good English laced with a thick brogue she said, "Thank you very much, Rodney."

There was an impressed hiss going through the crowd. Rodney was the first one to find his tongue again, stating, "Don't say you've understood us all the time?"

Giggling the little one shrugged and gave him a companionable nudge before she went on to Elizabeth.

The expedition leader smiled sadly and handed Mr. Carrot over to the lass. "Just take good care of him, hear?"

"Aye", Dana nodded and popped the rabbit's ear into her mouth almost instantly. Weir tittered a little and caressed the child's thick, blonde hair. "See you two soon, I hope."

After Teyla and Ford had said goodbye as well, it was Bates' turn to say goodbye. He lifted her up and got a big, wet kiss on the nose for it. Then he produced the basketball from behind, handing it to her. "I'll miss you, kiddo", was all he could say in this emotional moment.

Dana's mother took the ball and looked at it skeptically. Her daughter grinned broadly, explaining, "Sin _bàsgaidbàl_."

On hearing the queer pronunciation, Bates had to snort and suddenly the snort was followed by a tear. Quickly he wiped it away hoping that nobody had noticed.

Then it was Carson's turn. Trying not to look too sad he took her into his arms and held her tightly for awhile. In the end they were both struggling with their tears. Gently he kissed hers away.

Dana whispered to him, "Cèilidhidh air thu moch."

"I hope you will, wee lass", for a last time the Scotsman hugged her. Then he gave her the sock she had liked so much.

Before Dana left them Elizabeth went to her office to get the big painting they had all made together. The girl's mother used the time to thank those present in person once again, promising that they would stay in touch.

Then the painting arrived, neatly rolled up and tied. A moment later the reunited family left Atlantis, holding their little daughter in their middle.

xxxxx

"Beannachd leat, a nighean beag", Carson sighed and didn't quite manage to hold back his tears anymore. He felt totally alone right now, not knowing what to do without his little lassie.

Suddenly he felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. It was Sheppard. "Come on, doc. We're all kind of shattered now that she's gone and we'll all miss her."

"Yeah, we will", Rodney suddenly wailed from the other side, "Our sweet little madcap…"

"Rodney?" the two others glared at him and not much later they found themselves consoling their crying colleague. Totally out of his wit Carson even offered him the second sock he was still having in his pocket. As the physicist had calmed down again after quite a long time they retreated to the rec room and talked about what had happened.

"Well, well", John concluded at last, "One thing is for sure: Even though our lassie's gone, we're still having some crybabies to console…"

"Hey", Rodney protested sulkily, "You're the kid here. With all those brownie crumbles behind your ears…"

"Really?" the major lifted a hand behind his ear and as he pulled it back out, it was indeed full of brown, soggy crumbs. He and Carson exchanged an amused look and suddenly they were both laughing their heads off.

The Scot smiled, "Snuggly little thing, isn't she?"

the end

A/N: All right, now it's time to say goodbye little lass. Thank you all very much for your great attention. It really stunned me sometimes. Hope to see you all again soon.

All the best, _Baalsgirl_

Gàidhlig rocks ! ;-)


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